The Edmonton Oilers are looking for a puck-moving right-handed shot defenseman as they reimagine their defensive core after declining to match Philip Broberg’s offer sheet from the St. Louis Blues a few days ago. TSN’s Dustin Neilson reports the team has considered inking Tyson Barrie to a professional tryout agreement to help fill the void on the back end.
As discussed in a previous article, the Oilers’ defensive core left a lot to be desired even before the departure of Broberg, with Evan Bouchard and Mattias Ekholm representing the only true top-four options on the blue line. Barrie is only two years removed from scoring 10 goals and 43 points in 61 games for the Oilers on the blue line and could bridge the gap between the top-pairing and Edmonton’s less desirable options.
It will be interesting to see if Barrie can bounce back after a disappointing season with the Nashville Predators during his age-33 season. Originally acquired from the Oilers in the trade package that brought Ekholm to Alberta, Barrie finished last season with one goal and 15 points in 41 games. The relationship fractured between Barrie and the Predators early last season, with the team making him a healthy scratch in early December and permitting him to speak to other teams about a potential opportunity.
Assuming that Edmonton eventually signs Barrie to a PTO and he makes the team out of training camp, he would give the Oilers more flexibility on their back end. The team could then put Barrie next to Brett Kulak on the second defensive pairing and move Darnell Nurse to a more comfortable role on the bottom pairing. Barrie is not necessarily a defensive liability, but he saw his E +/- dip to nearly -13 in only 65 games with the Predators.
Barrie is not the only option that could interest Edmonton, as Justin Schultz and Kevin Shattenkirk still lack homes for the 2024-25 NHL season. The former has experience with the Oilers organization from earlier in his career, but certainly not as recent as Barrie. Unless Edmonton is confident that their current group can hold down the fort in the Pacific Division until next year’s trade deadline, all signs indicate one of these players will join the Oilers for the upcoming season.
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